Treasure Hunting with the Boyfriend
by Believe27
Summary: Maia is back and in love with Riley! New treasures sparks some memories of Ben and her as children...and she hates the villian out for the treasure: Mitch Wilkinson. How can Maia handle Wilkinson and how a relationship with Riley? OC/Riley COMPLETE
1. Home!

**Chapter One: Home!**

**So, here is the new National Treasure story I promised! I said it would be in September, and its September! Review, please!**

**ENJOY!**

I get off the plane from being in Romania for a year, away from Riley, Ben, and Abigail! The three of them are supposed to be here to pick me up. I walk into the airport and look around the room. I see, who I think is Riley, standing by the doors. I smile and start for him. Suddenly a woman runs to him and kisses him. Not Riley…I sigh and go to find my bags.

I grab my bags and head to the front doors. Where is Ben? Or Riley? Or, even Abigail? I see Kat leaning against her car smiling at me. "Kat? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Hawaii visiting your family?" I ask. Kat just smiles and hands me a present. "It's from Riley. Come on, we have to get going!" Kat says putting the bags into the car.

"What?" I ask. I'm so confused. What's going on? "Just come with me." Kat says. I get into the car and she drives us to a history seminar. We walk in and sit in the back of the room. The seminar is pretty much over with. I take out my glasses that I had to get last year and put them on. BEN!

"So recapping: the Knights of the Golden Circle was a Southern extremist group, operating in the north to subvert Union forces. Had Thomas not burned the legendary missing pages from the Booth diary, the killers may have found a vast treasure of gold, and the Union may well have lost the Civil War. Thank you." Ben says. I smile at him but he doesn't see me. Everyone in the room applauses for Ben. "I'd like to thank Ben and Patrick Gates." Professor Fields says. I haven't seen Professor Fields since I graduated early and needed to go to Romania.

"Thank you." Ben says to the professor. I stand up and clap to see if Ben can see me. I see Ben looks around the room and he smiles my way. "And say what a wonderful addition Thomas Gates is to our civilian heroes' exhibit." He says. I smirk and sit back down. I love the story of Thomas Gates and now everyone can realize how important he was to our country.

"Thank you, Professor Fields. I only wish my grandfather had been here to see this wonderful day." Patrick says. "Excuse me; I have a question I'd like to ask. What do you think happened to that Booth diary page that was pulled out of the fire?" A man says. The camera turns to the man up in the balcony. I sigh. This can't go well.

"We may never now." Ben says turning towards the man. "Perhaps. Perhaps not." He says. The man leans forward. Everyone in the room starts murmuring to each other.

"What does he mean by that?" Kat whispers. I shrug. This can not be good at all. "You see, I have one of those great-great-granddaddies, like you, way up in my family tree name of Silas Wilkinson. He used to tell a story about the night Lincoln was shot. As Silas tells it, Booth didn't seek out Thomas Gates regarding the treasure map that night. It was Thomas who called the meeting. A meeting to plan the assassination of Lincoln." The man says. I get up from my seat and walk down to the stage.

"That's absurd, sir!" I snap. Ben looks at me in shock. Oh, he must have not seen me after all. "That's a lie." Patrick says. The man stands up and pulls out a piece of paper.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…one of the missing pages from the infamous diary of John Wilkes Booth with the name Thomas Gates written on a list along with all the other killers." The man says. Everyone gasps including me. A missing page of the diary? I look at Ben and Patrick Gates just in shock. I look up to Kat and her eyes are wide. I shrug to her.

After everyone has left, Kat leaves my bags for me to get a ride to Patrick's place. I cross my arms as Professor Fields looks closely at the burnt page. "And, Latin?" He asks.

"Booth was a student of Latin. He shouted, 'Sic semper tyrannis' after he shot Lincoln. "Thus always to..."" The man starts.

"'Thus always to tyrants.' We know." I snap. "'Surratt, copiae'?" Fields asks.

"Military supplies. Latin for four years." I smirk at the man. He glares at me. "Mary Surratt was convicted and hanged for supplying Booth with a rifle and field glasses." He says.

"'Thomas Gates, artifex.'" Ben says. "'Designer' or 'mastermind'." The man says.

"I know what it means." Ben says. I'm getting really annoyed with this guy and I don't even know his name. "He must have, uh, planned the assassination." He says.

"I see." Ben says. My eyes widen. "Don't agree with him, Ben! He's probably going to turn into Ian!" I whisper. I see Ben try not to smile.

"Could mean mastermind of anything." Patrick says. "You see that? Burned out right there." I point to the burnt part of the paper.

"Who are you?" He snaps. "Who are you!" I cross my arms again.

"Wilkinson." Wilkinson says. I gulp. I know that last name. "Maia Castle." I say. I know that name for a reason. My phone rings and I see its Riley. Finally!

"Riley! Why didn't you meet me at the airport?" I hear Riley gasp on the other side.

"Oops…I thought you were coming in at 1PM."

"Ri?"

"Yes?"

"Its 1:45PM!" Riley goes silent for a little while.

"Crap…sorry about that, M! Where are you?"

"At a history seminar with Ben and Patrick. More on that later. Better question is where are you?"

"At Borders promoting my book."

"Book? What book, Ri?"

"Didn't Kat give you the present?"

"Of course. I just…haven't opened…it…yet. We came from the airport to the seminar."

"Kat said you would open on the way!"

"It can't be." I hear Patrick say. I turn around and see a worker putting the burnt page against the diary. I gasp. No…this can't be happening! There's no way Thomas Gates was a part of the assassination of Lincoln.

"M? M? MAIA! What's wrong?" I put the phone back to my ear.

"Tell yeah later." I hang up on my boyfriend without a goodbye. Later that day, Ben, Patrick, and I go to Patrick's house. I sit outside on the seats of the house. I don't want to see how upset Patrick is. Ben opens the door and sits down next to me. "Why are there so many boxes in Patrick's house?" I ask.

"Abigail kicked me out." Ben sighs. I raise an eyebrow. "How was Romania?" Ben asks. He wants to get off the subject.

"Good! I got school credit, so I can start working anywhere I want. A teacher, a historian, or be like Abigail." I smirk. Ben shakes his head. I look up from the necklace Riley gave me when I see shiny black dress shoes. I slowly look up and see my boyfriend carrying a life-size cut in an Indiana Jones type clothes and a wagon full of books. Where is his Ferrari? "Where the hell is the Ferrari?" I ask.

"The IRS impounded it." Riley sighs. "IRS?" Ben chuckles. Riley glares at him.

"Funny story. My accountant set up a corporation on an island that didn't exist and assured me that that's how rich people do it. Then I got audited and slapped with a huge fine plus interest. Wanna know what taxes are on five million dollars? Six million dollars." Riley sits down next to me. "Enough about me. What's new with you?" Riley wraps his arm around my back.

"Well, my girlfriend kicked me out, I'm living with my dad, and my family killed President Lincoln." Ben says. "Alright." Riley smiles.

"I'm going to need your help!" Ben says. I smile at him.


	2. Abigail's Help

**Chapter Two: Abigail's Help**

**Another chapter! YAY! The next one should be up by the end of this week or later. Sorry for the wait! Enjoy!**

That night at Ben's or should I say Abigail's house. "I can't believe you have to break into your own house." Riley sighs. "I need to get Abigail's ID. She has access to the Booth diary page." Ben mumbles.

"Why don't you ask Abigail for her help?" Riley asks. "She changed the alarm code, Riley. She's not going to talk to me." Ben says. We walk to the front door. What Ben said was that, Abigail was out for the evening and isn't coming home 'til late.

"All right. We have 30 seconds after the alert starts to disable the alarm." Riley takes out what he needs to disarm the alarm. "Go." He says. I open the door and the little ringing noise happens.

"Ben, if you don't mind me asking this, why did Abigail kick you out?" I ask. Riley raises an eyebrow. Ben sighs. "I don't know. I don't know. She started using the word 'so' a lot." Ben says.

"So?"

"Yeah, like, "So, I guess my opinion doesn't matter." "So, you seem to always know what's best." "So, I guess I'm invisible." Now I've moved out, we're dividing furniture..."Ben sighs. I just roll my eyes. So, isn't so bad…Riley puts the cover on the alarm after he disarms it.

"Women. Can't live with me especially if they change the alarm codes." Riley says smirking my way. I glare at him but smile at the same time. "Ri, you did that in 25 seconds." I check my timer. Exactly 25 seconds to disarm the alarm. Not a really good alarm.

"That's why I tell people to get a dog." Ri says. I stop as Riley bumps into me. I put my hands on my hips. "Did I say something wrong?" I turn my head to glance at him.

"A dog?" I say. Riley wraps his arms around my stomach and kisses my cheek. "Come on, I was talking about my friends who are desperate." Riley whispers in my ear. I shake my head and my hair hits him. Ben looks at us on the stairs.

"Come on." He murmurs. Riley lets go of my body and grabs my hand. We head to Abigail's office. Ben opens the first drawer and smiles. "Got it."

"Let's get out of here." I say. Suddenly the three of us see headlights from outside. I run over to the window and slightly open the curtain to look outside. "Uh, Ben? Did Abigail get an upgrade?" I ask. Ben walks over to the window.

"That's not Abigail's car." Ben says. Riley walks over to us. "She's on a date." I whisper. Ben looks down at me as the man opens the door for Abigail She's a fast little bunny. It has been like, what? A few weeks?

"Isn't that, that guy? The White House guy?" Riley asks. I nod; I had to do a semester at the White House with that guy. Conner is a creep. "He's weird." Riley laughs. Both I and Ben turn our heads to him. Riley is weird.

"He's weird." I mock. We leave the room, Ben stops when we see them coming to the front door. We hear them talking about the Easter Egg Roll at the White House. A summer job of mine when I first arrived at Washington. "What clever repartee. She must like him." Riley back says. Ben gives me a look since Ben isn't allowed to smack him. I take my hand and smack the back of his head. Ben pushes Riley and me into a room. Riley lands on a chair and I fall on top of him. Our lips are inches apart and I'm on top of him. He smirks at me. I start to lean forward when I hear the door open. I hear Riley whimper since my lips haven't touched his yet. I wink at him since I know this day isn't going to be over yet. I have a thinking Ben is going to find something interesting with Abigail's help. I listen carefully to what Ben is saying to Abigail. "Maia! Riley! Come out here." Abigail yells for us. I roll my eyes and we slowly exit the room. Riley pops his head out first.

"Hey! What are you doing here? I mean, it's your house, but..." Riley starts. I nudge his side to let me out of the room. "I sent you a copy of my book. Did you get a chance...?"

"No, I haven't had a chance too." Abigail folds her arms. "See? I'm not the only one." I smirk. Riley glares at me. I look over at Abigail and she is glaring at all three of us.

"I know you. You're the White House curator. I'm Riley. We met, uh, back in..." Riley starts, but I interrupt. "And, I'm the girlfriend. Maia Castle." I smile at Riley trying to get on his good side.

"Right. You're, uh, Ben's assistants." Connor says. "Excuse me?" I snap. Riley pushes me behind him. We really don't want a scene but I do want to punch Connor in his face. Connor gives me a weird look and turns to Abigail.

"Um, maybe I should get going." Connor says. "Yeah, I really…" Abigail begins. Abigail and Connor walk over to the front door.

"Dinner? Tomorrow night?" Connor asks. Abigail smiles. "I…I actually have plans for tomorrow." Abigail says.

"Oh, you do?" Abigail shoots a glare over to Ben. "Of course you do." Connor mumbles.

"But, I'm free on Friday." Abigail says.

"Awkward." Riley whispers. I punch his shoulder before Abigail can say anything. "Oh, great!" Connor laughs a little. What does Abigail see in this guy? He isn't cute, yes; he likes history and works for the white house but, come on! I look over at Abigail as Connor kisses her cheek. I look over to Ben and see him looking sad. Abigail and Conner say goodbye to each other. Connor walks out of the house and Abigail ignores Riley and me on the stairs and goes straight to Ben.

"I can't believe you three broke in. Ben, what did you take?" Abigail asks. "Just my things." Ben says. Abigail takes the box from Ben and puts her hand out for her ID card.

"Hand it over, Ben." Abigail says. Ben sighs and gives in. He pulls out the ID card out of his pocket and places it in her hand. "I need to see the Booth diary page." Ben says.

"You saw the page yourself! There's treasure map on the back like the Declaration!" Abigail snaps. "No, it's a cipher leading to a map. Anyone spectral-image the page?" Ben asks. Riley and I slowly walk down the steps to the couple. Abigail walks away from Ben.

"No need to. The ink on the page in clearly visible." Abigail says. The only thing I love about Ben's house is that it echoes though the halls. Ben follows her. "It could have been erased or faded. You're the director of document conservation. You know this." Ben says. Riley and I follow behind them.

"Not up to me. It's not my department." Abigail says. Ben stops. "That department reports

to your department. Come on, Abigail, one look under infrared. You can have the Boston Tea Tables." He says. Abigail stops short and turns to Ben. I know she was smiling.

"Both of them?" She asks.

Later that night, we go to the National Archives to look at the page. "We've been looking at the page for hours." Riley moans. "There's nothing there." Abigail rests her head on her left hand to keep her awake. We have been here for about four hours and everyone is tired. I take off my glasses and rub my eyes. I only got 15 minutes of sleep on the plane home. "Ben, I really don't think we're going to find anything on this page." Abigail sighs. Ben doesn't respond.

"Ben, look at it this way, in a hundred years, no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth." Riley says. Aww, he's trying to reassure Ben. Ain't working, buddy! Ben looks over to Riley. "That's not true. Do you know the expression, 'His name is mud'?" Ben asks.

Riley laughs. "Of course!" He says. I raise an eyebrow. "You do? Really?" I ask. Riley glares at me.

"You know the origin of the expression?" Ben asks. "Does anyone but you two know?" Riley asks. Ben sighs and shakes his head.

"Riley, let me explain this to you. Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. The evidence was circumstantial. He was later pardoned, but it didn't matter. Mudd's name still lives in infamy. And we will not let Thomas Gates' name be mud." I say. I rest my head on Riley's shoulder and close my eye for a quick second. "Ben." I hear Abigail says. I slowly open my eyes.

"What?"

"Look at this." Abigail points to the screen. I put my glasses back on and look at what's there. "Oh!" I smile. I know what it is.

"Yeah, it spells…smudge." Riley says. Abigail and I shoot a glare at Riley. "It's nothing, guys!" I smack Riley in the back of his head to shut him up. "Residual ink from the facing page. Flip it. The letters are backwards. It's a cipher." Ben says as Abigail flips the pages.

"Yes! It is!" Abigail smiles. "A cipher. See how the letters are coupled? Play-fair ciphers encode letters in pairs. This could prove Thomas' story." I say.

"Unless, you two decode the cipher this does not prove a theory." Abigail groans. "That's OK. We need a five-letter keyword." Ben says.

"What's the key word?" Riley asks. "I don't know yet." Ben says.

"Can we have a print out, Abigail?" I ask. Abigail sighs and nods. She hits the print button. "There's a billion words in the English language. Got to be a logical...let's start from the beginning. A-Aardvark." Riley mumbles to himself. Abigail gets up and grab the paper from the printer.

"Don't want to rain on your parade here, Ben, but I, uh, don't think this is gonna stop Professor Fields from announcing the discovery of the page…tomorrow." Abigail hands Ben the paper. "No, now, wait. Can't you ask him to wait until I prove Thomas is innocent?" Ben asks. Riley sits down in the computer chair to think of a five-letter code word. I lean against the desk and look at Ben and Abigail. Abigail sighs.

"What if he isn't?" She asks. My eyes widen. Thomas Gates has to be innocent, right?


	3. Decoding

**Chapter Three: Decoding**

**Another chapter! Since I'm sick…it works out that I stay home and write! Enjoy! Next chapter is the car chase! That should be interesting! **

"Bacon." Riley types it into the computer to figure out the cipher. "Keep going." Ben says. Riley types in baron.

"How's Patrick?" I ask. Ben looks into the room where Patrick is in. "You two keep working." Ben says. He walks into the computer room. I follow and lean against the doorframe. Patrick and Ben don't realize I'm there.

"Fields has bought into it. See?" Patrick says. "Would you stop watching that?" Ben asks.

"No stopping it now." I whisper. Thomas Gates has to be innocent. He has to be! Patrick clicks out of the MSN website.

"They have no understanding." Patrick sighs. I walk away and sit next to Riley. I turn his head and kiss him. "What was that for?" He asks.

"We didn't get to kiss yesterday." I smile. "I…" Riley starts as Ben coming into the room with Patrick.

"Try death." Ben says. "What?" Riley mumbles.

"It's the key code. The debt that all men pay is death." Ben says. Riley types in death into the decoder. "L-A-B-O-U-L…its Lab-ool...Lab-ahl...La...It's gibberish." Riley says.

"Ben, its Laboulaye!" I smile. "Laboulaye!" Ben says. Patrick smiles.

"Laboulaye!" Riley says as he smacks the table. "What is that?" I roll my eyes.

"I need to teach you history…again, Ri. It's a who, not a that. Édouard Laboulaye." I say. "Where's the phone?" Ben asks.

"I don't know, son. Can't find anything in this mess." Patrick says. "Temporary till I find a new place." Ben says.

"Find the old one. I like her." Patrick sighs. Ben walks into the room again, still for the home phone.

"Ben, use my cell phone." I hand over my cell phone. "Abigail is number four on my speed dial." Ben takes the phone from my and presses four.

"We cracked the cipher. It's Laboulaye. The cipher spells Laboulaye." Ben says. "Or maybe there was a treasure map like Thomas Gates said there was, and Laboulaye had it. We only got a partial on the next word. L-A-D, lad... ladder...L-A-D."

"Aladdin?" Riley asks. "Thank you, Abigail! Laboulaye Lady. Do you know what Laboulaye was planning right around the time Lincoln was assassinated?"

Ben comes back into the room from the kitchen and hands me the phone. "She hung up." Ben says.

"She took your call. That's good!" Patrick says. "Because she thought it was me." I whisper to Riley. Riley chuckles a little.

Ben tells us what is so important about the Laboulaye Lady. "You're saying there's a treasure map in the Statue of Liberty?" Riley asks. "Riley, Laboulaye was a mason, so mason put clues into everything." I say.

Riley opens his mouth to say something. "If you dare say, did you get that from my book, I will kill you." I snap. Riley closes his mouth quickly. "So the only question is, which Statue of Liberty?" Patrick says.

"Exactly. Is there more than one?" Riley asks. "History lesson when this treasure hunt is over with. There are three, actually, Ri. One is in New York. One in the Luxembourg Garden." I say.

"But he only referred to one as his 'lady'." Ben says with a smile. "Paris, France." I say.

Riley, Ben, and I head off the France to find the Statue of Liberty. As soon as we find it, Riley takes out his helicopter and makes it fly around the statue. "This is impossible what your doing!" Ben says. I lean over to Riley. "I think it's hot." I smirk. Riley rolls his eyes.

"I'm glad you two are enjoying it." Riley says. "Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere on here. Move in on the torch." Ben says.

"Okay. Let me get there. It's not as easy as it looks." Riley says. "No. Believe me, I understand." Ben says. I look behind me and see French cops. Ben walks over to them.

I see writing on the flame of the torch. "Zoom in on the flame." I whisper. Riley does and the write becomes clearer. "Got yeah." Riley says. Riley looks over his shoulder and sees the cops. I run over to him while Riley gets his helicopter back to the ground.

"Ben, we got it." I whisper. Riley runs over with everything. "I help you read French." He says looking my way.

"Don't look at me. I only took the basics of French." I say. "May I?" The cop asks. Ben says something in French but I don't know what.

"He's a cop." Riley mumbles.

"Um..."Across the sea these twins stand determined...'" The cop starts. "Resolute." The other says.

"'…resolute' yeah. "…to preserve what we are looking for." Uh, "...Laboulaye, 1876"." The cop says. "It's a clue!" Riley says. I put my hands on my hips.

"No, duh." I say. Sometimes Riley can be really stupid. That's the main reason why we are here in France to find a clue. ""These twins stand resolute." Let's see. Resolute twins. Resolute. Resolute. And then twins. Siamese twins? Siam? Trade routes between France and Thailand? That's ridiculous. HMS Resolute." Ben says as he leans against a pillar.

"Ben, I remember something from high school. A British ship that got lost in the Arctic in the 1800s. It was salvaged by American whalers, and then Congress sent it back to England. When the ship was finally retired, Queen Victoria had two desks made from its timbers. Voilà. Resolute twins." I say with a smile. "That's my girl." Riley says as he goes to kiss me.

"Not now, Riley!" I snap. "And where are those desks now?" The cop asks.

"Ah, the closest one is in London." Ben says. "Uh, Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?" Ben turns to Riley.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask your new best friend?" Riley snaps. I giggle. Ben takes a step back…an unexpected Riley behavior. The first cop talks to his partner in French. "He's going to call you three a cab." He says. The cop looks at Riley and sees the helicopter.

"Nice helicopter. Is that yours?" He asks. "Yes, actually. It is." Riley says.

"OK, so you get the ticket." The cop starts writing the ticket. "Great." Riley mumbles. We get into the cab and go to London a few days. Ben rents a hotel room for the three of us. Riley starts to resource Buckingham Palace.

"So the queen's office is here. The elevator shaft gets you close, but the only direct access is through security." Riley says. "This should be exciting!" I say.

"We need to get Ben in that room." He says. Ben's cell phone rings. "Hey dad. Call the police. I'm coming home."

"What happened, Ben?" I gasp. What happened to Patrick? "OK. We're in London. We're going to Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon."

"Bye." Ben hangs up the phone. "What happened?" I ask.

"His house was broken in to." Ben sighs. "I wonder who is was." Riley says.

"I have a feeling I know who it is. Someone else is after the treasure." I say. I cross my arms. "Of course someone else is after the treasure. It's the axiom of treasure hunting." Riley says. I shake my head.

"We have to hurry and see that desk." Ben says. "We don't want to miss that appointment." Riley says. The next day, we go to Buckingham Palace. We are let in and we walk in. The three of us go our separate ways. Riley head to the men's bathroom. I take out the small hearing device and put it in my ear so I can hear everything is said. Suddenly I see Abigail. What? Abigail! How the hell did she get to London so fast? I look up and see Ben and Abigail goes over to him. Ben turns and eyes widen.

"Abigail?" Ben says.

"Abigail? What is she doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Ben asks. "Your dad called me. Said your next clue was here." Abigail smiles.

"She's really there?"

"Of course she's really here!" I snap. "Ben…" Abigail starts.

"Lose her. Drop her!"

"I want to help." Abigail says. "That's very nice, but it's a bad time right now." Ben says trying to lose her.

"A bad time, right now?" Abigail says. "It's a bad time." Ben says.

"OK, I just flew all the way to London to offer my help..." Abigail starts. "Remember the plan, Ben!" I snap.

"You don't need it?" Abigail asks. "You're the one making a scene." Ben whispers.

"I...I'm not making a scene right now." Abigail snaps.

"We want to make a scene."

"Well then, fine! If that's what you want, let's have it out now!" Ben yells. Everyone turns to look at them.

"So subtle." I whisper.

"Let me guess? It's the wrong time. It's the wrong place. I'm wrong again! Wrong about us, wrong about Thomas Gates, wrong that you'd like the Queen Anne chair!" Ben yells. "You're wrong to assume I'd like the chair." Abigail shouts. Playing along, already? That's fast!

"You see? Everybody, listen to this. This is more interesting than that. She thinks that even when I'm right, I'm wrong! Isn't that right? Abigail, just because I answer a question quickly doesn't make it wrong." Ben says. "Not if the answer's something we need to figure out as a couple. That's what couples do!" Abigail snaps.

"Sir. You and your miss's, take it outside." A security guard says. "Now look what you've done. You've brought the little bobbies down on us! You take the miss's outside. I'm staying right here. " Ben snaps. What a site…this is so interesting.

"Ben!" Abigail yells as Ben slides down the railing. "Whee!" Ben says. My eyes widen. What the hell is he doing now?

"Good afternoon, sir." Another security guard says. "Hello." Ben does a fake English accent.

"Been drinking, have we?" He asks. "Just a nip." Ben smirks. "Popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of all right! Going to arrest a man for that? Going to detain a blighter for enjoying his whiskey?" Abigail looks at the side of Ben's face and see the hearing device. She smiles quickly and sees me. I wave with a smile.

"Enough." The guard snaps. "Bangers and mash. Bubbles and squeak. Smoked eel pie." Ben snaps.

"Sir!" The guard yells. "Haggis!" Ben says.

"That's it! Dismount the banister!" He says. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!" Ben yells. The guards take Ben and Abigail out of the main area. That was so interesting.

"Here they are, standing in a row! Small ones, big ones, some as big as your head!" Ben yells. "That…was…brilliant."

"More like epic, Ri!" I say.

"What's wrong with being right?" Ben asks. "Nothing. You should try it sometime." Abigail says.

"You're saying that I'm never right?" Ben asks. "I did not say that." Abigail says.

"Hoo! So I'm wrong again." Ben says. "Now, see, there you are correct." Abigail says.

"Capital. Topper." Ben says. "Your mother told me about you." Abigail warns. They continue to fake fight. I shake my head and join one of the tours to blend in.

"In here, please." A guard says.

"Why don't you just make a list of what's OK for me to say or not write something..." Ben snaps. "What's right or wrong..." Abigail snaps.

"You two lovebird, stay. Right?" The guard says. "No! No, no, man. Don't leave me in here!" Ben yells. I cover my ear so no one can hear. Holy crap, Ben can yell.

"That's great. Wow."

"What is going on?" Abigail asks. "I'm sorry for getting you roped into this, but you were excellent." Ben says.

"Thank you. So were you." Abigail says. "When did you figure out it was a fake argument?" Ben asks.

"When'd you figure out I was arguing during the fake argument?" She asks. "The middle. Where "l assume I'm right." Riley, get us out. Which I don't get. If I'm right, after I assume I'm right, then I'm correct." Ben says.

"When you get to a conclusion without asking, and you happen to be right, you got lucky." Abigail says. "I get lucky a lot." Ben says.

"So where does that leave me, Ben?" Abigail asks. "You guys are so great together." I smirk. I hear Ben groan quietly.

"Want to know why I'm here?" Ben asks. "Uh-huh." Abigail says.

"Think there may be a clue on the Resolute desk in the queen's study. Does that help?" Ben whispers. "I just don't understand why it's difficult for you to include others in your decisions. Just because you may know what my answer is going to be doesn't mean you don't have to ask me." Abigail says.

"Door number one, opening."

"OK. Let me try this out. Abigail, would you like to come with me, please?" Ben asks. "Yes. Thank you." Abigail says.

"Ridiculous. You're staying. It's too dangerous." Ben says. "I am so coming!" Abigail says.

"Door number two." Ben says.

"Door two, coming up."

"You're not coming." Ben says. "Call security." Abigail says.

"You should be near a service elevator."

"What are you doing? Are those for the queen?" Abigail asks. "Queen's not here. There's no flag flying. Queen's at Windsor." Ben says.

"What are you doing?" Abigail asks. "See the desk, without you. Bye-bye." Ben says.

"No." Abigail snaps. "Don't let her go." I snap.

"Abigail..." Ben sighs. "All right. Get in. Get in. Get in!"

"Hold this. Will you give me the flowers back, please?" Ben says. I wonder what she is holding. "Yeah." Abigail says.

A few minutes later. "What?" I hear Abigail says. "Wearing the perfume I bought you." Ben says.

"So?" Abigail asks. "So I think it smells kind of pretty." Ben says.

"It's the flowers, Ben." Abigail says. "No, it's not." Ben says.  
I roll my eyes. "Ben, we can hear you still. Stop flirting!" I hiss. "Let's go." Ben says.

"OK, now turn left."

"Dead end." Ben snaps.

"I mean right. Go right."

"Nice going, Riley!" I snap. "Oh, shut up!"

"You two stop flirting!" Ben snaps. "The flowers... petals... stamens."

"That's it." Ben says. They found it. Yes! One step closer to the treasure! "The Resolute desk." Abigail says.

"We're looking for..." Ben starts. "...writing, patterns in the carvings. Could be anything. Hey, look at this. "Malcolm Gilvary, 1880"."

"Hold on one second. Here we go. Malcolm Gilvary, well, he didn't make furniture. He made Chinese puzzle boxes."

I hear the clicking over a draw. "Oh..." Ben says. "What?" Abigail asks.

"I think these drawers work like tumblers in a safe." Ben says. "OK, four drawers...four-digit combination? What about a year?" Abigail says.

"Uh, let me see. Queen Victoria, born 1819."

"So you go one...Eight. One. Nine." Ben says. "Any luck?" I ask.

"OK... 1876 was on the inscription on the statue in Paris. Let's try that. One. Eight. Seven. Six." Ben says. I hear a little click of something then a pop. "Uh-oh. New rules."

"What did you find, Ben?" I ask. "These markings, like Incan or Aztec." Ben says.

"I have never seen any symbols like this. I mean, this looks centuries older than Civil War. What do you think it means?" Abigail says. "I doubt it has anything to do with the plot to assassinate Lincoln." Ben says. I gasp. I break away from the tour and head to the front doors to wait for Ben, Abigail, and Riley. I see the guard that took Ben and Abigail away.

"Uh-oh. Get out of there!" I hiss. "Mayday. Mayday. Ben, get out of there."

"Okay, let's make some noise. Uh-oh. God save the queen." The fire alarm goes off. Good going, Riley! Riley runs to me and we walk out to meet up with Ben and Abigail. We walk through the crowd once we found Ben and Abigail. We head to the car. The four of us run into some dog walkers. Riley gets stuck behind. "Come on, Ri!" I say.

"Thanks for waiting for me. Can I see the thing?" Riley asks. Ben pulls out a piece of wood. "Went to Buckingham Palace, all I got was this wood?"

"Look at the symbols. Never seen anything like this. It's an incredible discovery." Abigail says. I turn and see Wilkinson. "Ben! Wilkinson!" I yell. Everyone turns and sees Wilkinson. We run to the car.

"I told yeah, I knew who was after the treasure!" I yell. "I'll drive!" Riley says getting into the car. Abigail and I get into the back.

"Riley, we're in England." I smirk. Ben gets in and starts the car.


	4. Car Chase with Wilkinson

**Chapter Four: Car Chase with Wilkinson**

**Another chapter because I'm sick and stayed home but going back tomorrow! Tried to make the car chase scene interesting and long because I loved when I wrote the other chase scene in the first movie! **

**So, ENJOY!**

Ben quickly looks at the screen that pops up. I look through the back window. I see one of Wilkinson's men pointing a gun at us. "GUN!" I scream. "Get down!" Ben yells. Everyone ducks as two shoots hit the window. Glass flies everywhere.

"We're trapped!" Riley says. "Hold on. Keep your heads down." Ben says. He puts his foot on the gas. We drive backwards towards the man with the gun. He keeps shooting at us. Ben quickly turns, not to hit the man. Ben drives through the shadowed area before entering a hotel. The car bangs into a car that was turning. Ben stops on the breaks when he sees the dog walkers. They run with most of the dogs, except for one. The dog starts to lick the camera.

Finally, Ben drives us straight. I sit up slowly and see a car following us. "Ben, their getting closer!" I yell. Riley looks at me. "What is their problem?" Riley snaps.

"It's a treasure, Riley. Someone has to be after the treasure." I snap. Riley just smiles at me. Let's hope we get out of this alive! We hit the main road and so does Wilkinson. "Go left! Left!" Abigail snaps. We turn left and so do the others. One of the cars that are following us bumps into us.

"Turn, turn, turn!" I yell. Ben turns the car but crashes into the England style bus. The glass breaks and Abigail covers her head. "Everyone okay?" Ben asks. Not answers him, not yet anyway. We go down an alley and get stuck behind an oil can truck. I look out the broken window and see the guy from behind pointing a gun at us. I duck my head as the bullet hits the car. He shoots the oil can truck and the cans fall to the ground in front of us. One rolls up on the hood and breaks. Abigail screams. Ben finally gets in front of the truck. Riley yells go as we turn into another alley. Suddenly a phone rings. I gasp, so unexpected. "What is that? Someone's phone." Riley says. Abigail takes out her phone and sighs.

"It's him." She says. "You have him on your speed dial?" Riley snaps.

"Riley, not now!" I snap. Abigail hands the phone to Ben. "Mitch, this has to end before someone gets hurt. Tell that to my father." Ben hangs up the phone. Ben turns the car down an alleyway. People are down it. Ben honks his horn. "Why are they standing in the middle of the street?" Riley asks.

"It's a farmer's market." I sigh. Ben honks some more. The people in the alley start screaming and running the same way we are. "Why are they running?" Riley asks. I look behind and see the oil truck.

"I would say that it's the large truck!" I scream. Abigail looks. "He right behind us! Go! Go! Go!" She yells. Ben keeps honking for the people so they can get out of our way. We need to get back on the main road. Ben looks around but not at the road.

"Watch out for the people, Ben!" Abigail and I yell. Ben swerves into another alleyway. Too many alleyways in London. "Faster, Ben! He's catching up!" I yell. Ben speeds up as we hit the main road. Finally!

"Does this phone have a camera?" Ben asks. "No, it's broken." Abigail says. Ben throws the phone to the back where I am.

"All right. Give me the plank." Ben says. Riley hands the plank over to him. "Hang on. We're going to run a red light." Ben presses on the gas as we run through the red light. I can't believe we just ran a red light.

"Hack into the London Police database and get a picture from that traffic cam." Ben says. "Okey-dokey." Riley mumbles.

"You can't do it?" Ben asks. "No, I can. I just don't like that you _assume_ that I can." Riley starts to hack database.

Abigail laughs. "Why, thank you, Riley." She smirks. I see Ben's face in the mirror. We hit the bridge. Ben swerves between the cars to get away from Wilkinson. "Ben, I have a plan. The plank, please!" I say. Ben throws me the plank and I hold my hand out the window to hand it over to Wilkinson's man. Instead of handing it to him, I throw into the body of water.

The next day, we arrive in Washington DC to Patrick's home. "Abigail." Patrick says as he hugs her.

"Hey, Patrick." Abigail smiles. "Nice to see you two together again." Patrick says. Abigail looks at Ben.

"They're not together. Unfortunately." I whisper to Patrick. "Oh, I was hoping to get some of these boxes out of the house." Patrick says. We walk into the house. I fold my arms when I see Riley having trouble with the bags that Abigail and I had him carry in. I smirk at him.

"Why did you and Abigail bring so much stuff?" Riley moans. I shrug and go into the living room. Later, Riley gets his laptop to show Patrick the plank of wood.

"I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are definitely pre-colonial Native American markings." Patrick points out. "500 years old?" I ask.

"Easily. I can identify one symbol. Look at this. Do you know what that is?" Patrick asks. "Sacred calendrical? I don't know." Ben says.

"That symbol is Cibola. That's Cibola." Patrick says. Ben closes his eyes. "The City of Gold. The City of Gold." Ben mumbles. Ben grabs a book from Patrick's book shelf.

""In 1527, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast. There were only four survivors. One was a slave named Estebán who saved a local tribe's dying chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city built from solid gold. Later, when Estebán tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the New World in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended with his last stand at Little Bighorn, it became clear none would ever find it."" Ben reads. I look over at Riley, who is just in awe about what Ben was reading. I grab his hand and smile. "Ben, can you imagine if the Confederates got their hands on the City of Gold...my god." Patrick says. He stands up.

"I'm going to go talk to her. You're coming with me." Ben says with a smirk. Patrick's eyes widen. "No!" He snaps.

"Hey. No one else can translate it." Ben snaps. "There are others. There are several others." Patrick says.

"For ancient Native American? No one better." Ben says.

"Who?" Riley asks. Abigail shakes her head. We look at them.

"Look, Ben, I can't go with you. It's been what? Twenty-five years." Patrick says. "Thirty-two." Ben says.

"That long? There's a reason why we haven't spoken in thirty-two years. We have nothing in common." Patrick says coming back over to us. "Me?" Ben points out.

"Yes, of course. And I'm sure she's just as proud of you as I am." Patrick says.

"Who?" Riley whispers again. "Ben's mom." I smirk. Abigail nods with a smile. This outta be interesting!


	5. Dr Emily Appleton

**Chapter Five: Dr. Emily Appleton**

**Another chapter…Enjoy because the next one isn't going to be up for awhile…I have my school life to worry about first and I'm getting over a kiss. **

**I'm not a fan of this chapter but if it makes anyone else happy, then I'm happy! I tried to give more lines to Maia but it didn't turn out that way. Hopefully, the next one will be more entertaining and more Maia lines…I PROMISE! **

We walk into the University of Maryland. "Would you relax? Everything is going to be fine." Ben says as we walk through the college students to get to Dr. Appleton's office. "Sure. I should look at the bright side. Been a long time…maybe she lost her memory, won't recognize me." Patrick says. We come up to her office when a student comes out, slamming the door.

"I hate her!" She yells then notices us. She walks between me and Riley. "We're in the right place." Patrick says. I roll my eyes. Ben opens the door and Ben, Abigail, and Patrick walk in first.

"I'm gonna take myself out of the line of fire for this one." Riley says. I look over my shoulder. "Chicken." I smirk. I walk in and close the door.

"Hi, Mom." Ben says. "Benjamin!" Emily says.

Emily hugs Ben then sees Abigail. "Abigail! What a surprise!" She says. "Hello, sweetheart."

"Hi." Abigail says. I pop in front of Patrick. "Hey, Mrs. Appleton." I smile.

"Maia! My god! How are you?" Emily hugs me. I go to say something when Emily sees Patrick. "Oh." She says. "You see? One syllable, a knife in the heart." Patrick says.

"Oh, no!" I mumble. "She can do that." Patrick says.

"I can also track the whereabouts of my toothbrush." Emily snaps. "I was not the one that left the toothbrushes in Marrakech. I stowed them both in the travel case, as instructed." Patrick says. Oh, this is going to get interesting!

"Yes, and you also insisted on loading the luggage into the taxi." Emily says. "Didn't insist. I loaded the luggage." Patrick says.

"Not the travel case." Emily snaps. "Travel case is not luggage. The case goes into the luggage. Who was in charge of packing?" Patrick points to Emily.

"I couldn't get the case into the luggage. It was full with that stupid rug you bought. You thought it had secret stitching. How stupid was that?" Emily says looking at me. "Did have stitching. Six phony green leather suitcases..." Patrick protests

"Mom." Ben finally gets their attention. Aww…come on, it was just getting interesting, Ben. "I need you to take a look at this." He shows her the picture of the plank.

"What is that a picture of?" She asks. "It's interesting. We think it might be Olmec." I say.

"It is. Yes, yes, definitely Proto-Zoquean." Emily says. "We were hoping that you could translate it." Patrick says. Emily looks up.

"Yes, of course you were." She snaps. She looks at the papers again. Emily sighs and takes off her glasses. "Oh, this doesn't involve another treasure hunt, does it?"

"Mom, this is actually very important." Ben says.

"All right. What have we got here? This... this glyph here that means "bird." And that means..." Emily starts when she sees Patrick standing up from the couch. She gives him a glare and he sits back down. "Uh, "noble bird." "Find the noble bird; let him take you by the hand and give you passage to the sacred temple." Oh, you think this is a treasure map for Cibola, don't you?" Emily laughs.

"Well, that is exactly what it is." Patrick stands up from the couch. "No, Patrick. This glyph doesn't mean "Cibola." It means "the center of the world."" Emily snaps.

"You know, you used to like it. She fell in love with me on a treasure hunt." Patrick smirks. I raise an eyebrow. Just like Ben and Abigail. "That was not love. That was excitement, adrenaline and tequila." Emily sighs.

"Mom..." Ben says to get their attention again. "I was trying to get course credit." She says.

"Treasure hunting paid off, in case you haven't read the papers." Patrick says. "That had nothing to do with you. That was Ben. Ben found the treasure. You did nothing." Emily snaps. My face drops. Hello! Fellow treasure hunter, right here! I helped find the treasure! I know because they spelled my first name wrong. I don't spell Maia with a 'y'.

"Patrick, Emily, please. Can we just figure out what's on the page?" Abigail says. Emily picks up the papers again to look at them. "Well, that's it, I'm afraid. These glyphs are only partials. So you only have half a treasure map. I'm sorry. Not that I'm surprised." Emily says. I take the papers and smile at her. She was some help.

The four of us walk out of Emily's office and head outside. "At least we know where the rest of the map is." Ben says. "What? You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asks.

"Obviously you have a tendency to overreact!" Ben yells at his father. I jump, every unexpected of Ben. "I'm sorry." Patrick says.

"So am I." Ben says. "So where is it?" Patrick asks.

"Inscription on the statue in Paris said, "These twins stand resolute."" Ben says. "We think the maps divided between the two Resolute desks." Abigail says.

"The Resolute desk. The Resolute desk? President's desk?" Patrick says. "The president. What president? Our president?" Riley says.

"Unfortunately, yes." I say. "But that means...wait, so we have to...The White House?" Riley says. I nod.

"The Oval Office...to be exact." Ben says. "Why would I overreact to that?" Patrick smiles then frowns.

Later at Patrick's house. "The Resolute desk is near the south wall in the Oval Office. Look at this. Look." Patrick reads from a book. He puts the book on the table where Riley's laptop is. "Small door on the front of the desk." Ben says.

"FDR had that put in so guests couldn't see his wheelchair." I smile. Riley looks up at me and smiles. "What?" I ask.

"History knowledge is hot!" Riley says. I shake my head and lean over. I scroll down the page and see something interesting. "Guys, take a look at this!" I say. Ben looks at the computer screen. The Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

"This could work." Abigail says.

"I believe it's time for you to make a date with your new boyfriend." Ben says. "I think you're right." Abigail smiles. I look at Patrick's face…wow, he doesn't understand the joke!

The next day Riley, Patrick, and I stay at Ben's rental truck while Ben and Abigail go to see if they can get into the Oval Office. Within 30 to 35 minutes Ben and Abigail walk over to us. "Abigail? Why is your lipstick faded?" I ask. Abigail's eyes widen. "She had to kiss Conner." Ben says. I shake my head of the thought of Abigail kissing Conner.

"It was empty." Ben says. "Someone must've taken it." Abigail says.

"Brightest men in our country sat at that desk for over a hundred years." Patrick says. Ben goes to open the truck. "Take a look at this." He says.

"Of course one of 'em found the map." Patrick says. Ben stops and takes out a camera. Everyone looks over his shoulder at the picture. "A symbol stamped into the wood." He says.

"The presidential seal." Patrick says. "It's not the presidential seal. The eagle's holding a scroll instead of olive branches." Abigail says. I turn and look at Riley, who is pacing back and forth.

"Did none of you read my book?" Riley asks. The three other turn to look at him and don't say anything. "The eagle clutching the scroll."

"Do you know what it means?" Ben asks. "Yeah. But it's not something I could tell you. It's something that I have to show you...in my book." Riley says. I smile at him.

I go to the truck to get my purse. I pull out the book, still in its wrapping. "You didn't even open it?" Riley moans. I sigh. "I didn't have time." I say.

"Chapter 13." He snaps.

""The President's Secret Book"?" Ben says.

""The President's Secret Book." It happens to be a collection of documents for presidents by presidents, and for presidents' eyes only. And I'm not just talking about JFK here, guys. The 18 and a half missing minutes of the Watergate tapes. Did the Apollo really land on the moon? Did it? Did it? And the coup de grâce...Area 51." Riley says. This is like the speech he gave Ben and I when he was trying to knock sense into Ben before stealing the Declaration. "Come on, Riley. That's...that's an urban legend." Abigail says.

"Is it, Abigail? Is it?" Riley says. "It's just totally..." She starts.

"Crazy?" Riley says. "Yeah!" Abigail says.

"Hmm. 'Cause last time I checked, we pretty much make our living on crazy." Riley says. "He's got a point, Abigail." I say.

"I guess so." Abigail sighs. "Same symbol." Patrick says.

"Released in '66 under the Freedom of Information Act. The eagle and the scroll, the secret symbol in the President's Book." Riley says. "So you're saying that whatever was on that plank is now in the President's Secret Book." Patrick says.

"Ben?" I say. Ben looks up at me. "If it was you trying to convince me or anyone, you'd have less evidence that I'd already believe you in." Ben nods.

"You know what you're going to have to do now." I say. Ben sighs. "Yep. I'll regret doing that later, I just know it." Ben says.

Later at Patrick's house again after Ben has a talk with Sedusky. "All I need is a few minutes with him." Ben says. "A few minutes? Really? Ben, even if you were married to the president, you wouldn't be able to get a few minutes." Riley says. I watch Patrick paces back and forth.

"Not when he's surrounded by handlers but, if I get him alone..." Ben says. "How do you expect to get the president alone?" Riley asks.

"Before the Civil War, the states were all separate. People used to say, "The United States are." are wasn't until the war ended people started saying, "The United States is." Under Lincoln... we became one nation." Ben says. "And Lincoln paid for it with his life." Patrick says.

"So did Thomas Gates." I sigh as I lean my head against Riley's knees. "Right." Patrick says.

"With his life." Ben says. "So, Ben, how are you gonna get him alone?" I ask.

"I'm gonna kidnap him. I'm gonna kidnap the president of the United States." Ben says. Abigail laughs a little. "That's not funny." She snaps.

"I'm your father. How do you expect me to respond? I can't let you ruin your life." Patrick says. "Are you out of your mind?" Abigail says standing up from the couch.

"Read my book, and you'd know you can't get to that book." Riley says standing up as well. They ramble on. I get up and walk over to Ben.

"How exactly do you plan on doing this?" Patrick asks. "I'm going on a ledge here, but I think he's think about Mount Vernon." I smile.

"Oh." Patrick says. "What?" Abigail is too confused to realize what just happened.

"I'm in." Riley says. I smile at my boyfriend.


	6. Kid Napping

**Chapter Six: Kid-Napping**

**Lookie here! I've finally updated this after what like 2 ½ months? I started this like back in November but I never finished it! Sorry about that! **

**And, sorry if this chapter sucks…I'm kinda rusty with National Treasure stuff…**

We arrive at Mount Vernon, Virginia. Riley, Abigail, and I go to the Library and wait for Ben. We see him drive up with Patrick. "Hey!" Abigail says. I put on Riley's coat on. "Hey. We're close." Ben says. Abigail and I enter the Library first.

"Where do we start?" Riley asks stuffing his hands into jean pockets. "XY is the book classification code." Abigail says.

"Stands for special collections, which means very, _very_ special books. This way." I say. "We'll have to sneak in." We go over to the special collections door. Ben puts his hand there when the janitor leaves. He pushes the door for us. Abigail goes first then Riley and me. We quickly go up the stairs and get to the top and see stakes and stakes of book. "Here we go. XA…XM..." Abigail says. Abigail turns a corner and comes to a door with a four digit code.

"Look. Do you have a code?" Abigail asks. I see the Presidential Seal. "Three-seven-nine-four." Ben whispers as he presses each button. The door opens and he twists the doorknob. Ben walks in first and the three of us follow close behind. Abigail, Riley, and I continue down to look at all the books.

"Ben, what did the president say the number was?" I ask. "Two-three-four-seven-eight-six." Ben says. Riley and I go around the stacks to find the number. I watch as Ben turns around and stares at a certain shelf of books. I walk over to him and see the XY classification code. I turn my head slowly to the shelf and read the numbers on the books. "Ri, over here!" I say. Riley walks over as Ben and Abigail repeat the numbers as their index fingers glide against the edge of the shelf until they barely turn.

"It's not there." Ben says. Abigail sighs. "Maybe someone checked it out." Riley says. I turn to look at my boyfriend with my hand on my hip.

"Really? No one knows the code, Ri." I say. Riley just rolls his eyes. "Why send us here if there's no book?" Abigail asks. Ben takes a book off the shelf.

"He probably wanted us to get caught." Riley snaps. Ben goes to put the book back when something catches his eyes. "Here." Ben says handing the first book to Riley. He grabs the ladder and continues to hands heavy books to Riley to hold.

"What is that?" Abigail asks. "It looks like a six-dial combination lock." I say.

"Right, Maia. The location is the combination." Ben says. "The location is the combination." Riley whispers. Ben puts in the combination of 2-3-4-7-8-6. The secret door opens and the President Secret Book. He grabs the book and steps down the ladder.

"I was right." Riley whispers. "Well done, Mr. Poole." Ben smiles. Riley smiles and puts the book down on the table.

"Good job, Riley Poole." I kiss his lips. Riley puts his hand around my waist. "Eagle and the scroll." I smile at my boyfriend. Ben puts on his glasses to read the book.

"Area 51!" Riley says excitedly. "Shh!" Ben snaps. I roll my eyes.

"It's the Kennedy assassination." Riley says. "Shh! We don't have time!" Ben snaps. I giggle as Abigail rolls her eyes at the men.

"Yeah, it's true." Riley whispers.

"Here. Wait. "April 1865. Queen Victoria sends Pike two coded missives. The first is received. Contains information regarding New World treasure. The City of Gold."" Ben says. Riley smiles then frown. "Wait. The queen wanted to help the Confederacy?" He asks. "Divided America would have been weaker." I say.

"And, they needed cotton from the South. "The second missive was thought to contain a Play fair ciphers suggesting contact with Laboulaye, who'll hide clues before his death." The cipher written into the Booth diary page that Thomas tried to burn." Ben says. "The one we have." Riley says.

"Right!"

""1880, Resolute desk arrives in Washington, sent by queen to President Hayes." Look at that." Ben says. He hands the picture over to Abigail to look at. It's the other part of the plank. "Missing plank from the White House. Wow." Abigail smiles.

"Here's the final entry by President Coolidge. "1924. I found a plank in secret desk compartment. Plank photographed and then destroyed. Borglum commissioned to destroy landmarks in sacred Black Hills mountains."" Ben says. "Borglum. Mount Rushmore?" I ask.

"He carved Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks in order to protect the City of Gold." Ben says. "Mount Rushmore was a cover-up." Riley whispers. Suddenly, we hear sirens from outside the Library of Congress.

"What is it?" Riley asks. Riley, Abigail, and I run to the window. It's Sedusky! "There's my tax dollars at work, coming to arrest me."

"Not coming for you, they're for me. Go to the car." Ben says. "No, Ben!" Abigail says.

"Go! I'll meet up with you." Ben says. Riley and Abigail start to run out. Ben takes a picture of the photo. "Maia, call my dad on the way!" He says. Riley comes back into the room and pulls me away. Riley, Abigail, and I run down the stairs and sneak down to the check out place by bypassing the FBI agents. We quickly make it down the stairs to where Abigail's car.

"Quickly guys! The FBI agents are following us!" I say. We all run a little faster. I call Patrick on the way.

"Patrick!"

"Maia! You gotta get out of there I had to move the car. There are FBI and Secret Service all over the place!"

"I realize that! Ben sent a picture to your phone! Did you get it?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes! Did you get it?"

"I got it!"

"Take it to Emily for translation!"

"Why me?"

"Because we aren't going to make this out so enough and you're the closest!" I hang up the phone as we walk into the parking lot. "How are we going to find Ben?" Riley asks as he grabs my hand.

"I don't know." Abigail sighs. A flashlight shines in our eyes and we all yell in shock. "Hold it! Who are you?" The guard asks.

"We work here." Abigail hands over her ID. "Here. We were told to evacuate."

"I don't know what's going on." Riley says. "My car's parked..." Abigail starts. I smile at them because their trying to confuse them.

"One second I'm reading..." Riley starts. I see Ben walking the edge of the building ready for his escape. "Special section over here..." Abigail says.

"...a book, then we're rushed out..." Riley says.

"Go ahead." The guard says. "OK. Thank you." Abigail says. We quickly make our way to Abigail car.

"Have a good night." She says. I get into the back while I see Ben make his way towards us. "Start the car. Put it in gear." Riley says. Abigail follows Riley's direction.

"Uh-oh." I say. "What's the problem? It's clear. Let's go!" Another guard says. Abigail opens the trunk door.

"We're going to jail." Riley whispers. "No, we're not!" I hiss.

"I want to run a check..." The guard starts as Abigail starts to drive off. "Get in, Ben! Hang on!" I scream. Ben jumps into the back of the Mercedes SUV

"Drive! Drive! Drive!" I scream. "Okay!" Abigail drives faster. There's a cop car following us.

"I don't think so!" Abigail says as she drives over the barricade and pulls off a piece of her car. The cop car behind us slams into the barricade. "That did not turn out the way it was supposed to!" Riley snaps. Ben climbs over the seat and sits down next to me.

"How'd they find us so quick?" Abigail asks. "I'll tell you how. The president is a tattletale!" Riley snaps.

"It was Sedusky, Ri! Ben, what aren't you telling us?" I ask. "Maia, your right. He was there. He knows more about the book than I thought." Ben says.

"How'd the president feel about being kidnapped?" Abigail asks. "He was okay!" Ben says. Abigail shakes her hand and smiles.


	7. Mitch

**Chapter Seven: Mitch **

**Second chapter in one day? Way to go me! I'm impressed! I hope this is better than chapter six I put up! I actually had fun with this one! **

**Chapter eight should be up before the 3****rd****! Then you'll have to wait and see when the next one after that will be up! You never know with me! So enjoy your week off if I don't get another chapter up before the next year! **

The gang and I go to Mount Rushmore. I stand up Riley as Mitch, Emily, and Mitch's men walk past. Riley whistles to get Abigail's attention. Abigail nods and Ben turns to Mitch. Riley and I watch from afar. "Do you think our plan is going to work?" Riley whispers to me. I nod as he shoos something away from his face. I giggle and kiss his cheek. "All right... You've had me do all the work so far, why stop now? You tell me what you know, I'll find the City of Gold, prove Thomas Gates' innocence, you can have the treasure." Ben says.

"What?" Riley and I gasp.

"I'm going with you. But if anyone's gonna be credited for discovering the City of Gold, it's going to be me." Mitch says. "But your partners stay here, and all the guns." Ben says.

"What makes you think I'd agree?" Mitch asks.

"Because you need that treasure. Believe me, I know." Ben says. Mitch stands there in silence for a moment or two. "All right, Gates. We'll do it your way. But believe me...I don't need the guns." Mitch says. Ben motions us to follow him and Mitch. We walk up the rock that we're not supposed to be on.

"I still don't see anything that looks like a noble bird." Abigail says. "All right, Mitch. Let's have it. What did the letter say? What's the clue from Queen Victoria's letter?" Ben says.

""The entrance shall only be revealed under a cloudless rain." Figure that one out." Mitch says. "So we come back when it's raining?" Riley asks.

""Cloudless." Could simply mean the sun. You need a sunny day...and rain. We need water." I say. "Water." Riley shrugs. I take out Riley's bottle of water.

"Hey that's mine!" He says. I open the bottle and pour it on the rocks. It changes the color. "Ben, Abigail. Everybody, the water makes the rocks darker. Use the water." I say. Ben throws a bottle of water to Abigail.

"Em? Water?" Patrick says. "What's this in my hand? Are you blind?" She snaps.

"Good, good, good." Everyone "waters" the rocks to see who can find the eagle first. Riley waters some rocks but it splashes me. "Thanks Riley! I really needed another bath!" I snap. Riley smiles at me. I roll my eyes and "accidentally" slip some water on him. He glares at me.

"Children, stop!" Mitch snaps. I glare at him. "This is ridiculous. Are we going to water the whole thing?" Emily snaps.

"That's it. Oh! That's it. I found it. Over here! Found it! Over here!" Abigail yells. Everyone runs over to her. "Look at this!" I smile at her. She found the eagle!

"It's an eagle." I say.

""The noble bird..."" Ben says. ""Will give you passage."" Emily smiles.

"Uh-huh. Now what?" Abigail asks. "We need to join hands, and in a noble manner, pass over the bird." Riley says as he goes to grab my hand.

"No, you're not going to follow you in this crazy train!" I say. Abigail and Emily give Riley a weird look. "It indicates direction..." Patrick says.

"Somehow that bird...will rise from the rock and kind of caw..." Riley starts to make bird sounds as Mitch passes behind me and my boyfriend. "You can stand around guessing for a while, or I can give you the next clue. "Surrender your hand to the heart of the warrior."" Mitch says.

"And the eagle is a symbol of the warrior." Emily says. Ben looks at his hand and starts to put his hand near the eagle. "Ben, no. Wait, wait! No. That's probably a horrible trap. Tell him!" Emily snaps as she smacks Patrick in the shoulder.

"It's a horrible trap." Patrick says. "It would be a pity to come this far and not even try, now, wouldn't it?" Mitch says.

"I'll do it, Ben." Riley says. My eyes widen at my boyfriend. "Excuse me? I'm not letting you lose a hand!" I cross my arms. Ben glares at us.

"It's OK." Ben says. Abigail nods. Riley pulls me close to him body. I can feel the tension building in the air. "Surrender your hand." We hear Ben mumble as he puts his hand in the open area. Ben screams and so does everyone else. I press my face into Riley's shoulder. Ben bursts out laughing. "I am sorry. I...I couldn't resist." He laughs. Abigail punches his shoulder and I smack the back of his head.

"I can't believe you Ben! You gave everyone a heart attack!" I scream. Patrick chuckles. "It, uh... feels like a latch." Ben says. We hear rocks fall into water below. Riley and I walk to the edge and see a passage open up for us to discover. We make our way down to the passage way. Emily and Patrick go first into the tunnel then Riley, Abigail, and I. Riley turns on his flashlight to see around the area.

"Oh! Ben, look at this. Oh, that's beautiful! Patrick. Patrick!" Emily says excitedly.

"Ben, what is that?" Abigail asks. "Appears to be a counterweight to hold the door open." Ben says shining his light into light on it.

"What is that sound?" Riley asks. Riley turns the robe that was tied around it. "No! Riley!" I yell as the robe breaks. Riley screams. Ben grabs Abigail to save her. I cover my head as the counterweight breaks off.

"Sorry." Riley sighs. I uncover my head and look at my boyfriend. "You should know by now not to touch anything that's more than 100 years old! There's a reason why Ben and Abigail didn't want you to touch the Declaration!" I say.

"Oh, shut up, Maia!" Riley snaps. This treasure hunt is being out the worst of us, right now.

"You OK?" Mitch asks. He holds out a hand for Riley. "No." He sighs. Riley stands up.

"It's locked." Patrick says trying to open the trap door. "Patrick, what have you done?" Emily asks.

"Some kind of a bolt. I didn't do it." Patrick snaps. "Only one way out of here now. Forward." Mitch says shining his flashlight down another tunnel. We follow him down the tunnel.

"Never seen so many relics." Emily gasps. "So beautifully preserved."

"Looks like we're going to be moving some rocks, people. There's a tunnel back in through here." Mitch says.

"Guys, look at this. It's a little golden man. Look. It's got a tiny little torso. Look at that. It looks like..." Riley says as Mitch, Ben, Abigail, and I walk forward towards the golden statue. The floor moves and the five of us fall on our asses to another platform. I land on my back and Riley falls on top of me. The platform moves and Ben almost falls off.

"Move back! Move back! All of you! Other side! Back up! Back up!" Ben yells. Riley crawls off me to the other side. I slowly make my way over to them to save Ben from falling off the moving platform. Ben catches is balance but loses it.

"Riley, move forward! Move forward! No, back up, back up." Ben yells. Riley almost falls off the platform. "Riley!" I scream. Riley falls on his ass but gets back up.

"What you want me to do?" Riley yells. "Stop! Stop!" Ben yells. Riley stops moving. "We have to balance our weight to even this thing out."

Mitch looks over the edge of the platform. "There's nothing. Just a big old black hole." He says. "Oh, joy! We'll fall to our death! Exactly how I wanted to die!" I snap.

"Ben, look! There's a ladder. I mean, what's left of a ladder." Abigail says.

"Toss me the light." Abigail tosses her flashlight over to Ben. Riley. Move slowly to that corner. No! Wait. Just...As I move to this corner." Ben says. Riley nods.

"One step at a time. Good. If we can raise this corner, I think I'll reach it." Ben says. Mitch walks on the platform and the four of us stumble. I lose my footing and ram right into Riley. I feel my ankle twist the wrong way. "Stop! Red light!" Riley yells. He quickly grabs my arm before I completely damage anything in my foot.

"You're not helping!" Abigail yells. "I can get up there just as easy as you." Mitch says. I groan in pain. I think I did something terribly wrong to my ankle.

"Just stop." Ben snaps. Abigail notices me clinging onto Riley for dear life. "Guys!" Abigail tries to get their attention towards me.

"It's four against one here. I ain't going last, and if I'm not going last, I might as well go first." Mitch says as he moves forward more.

"Look!" Riley yells. Both Mitch and Ben look at me with the tears slowly rolling down my cheeks. "What happen?" Ben asks.

"I think I sprained my ankle, Ben! When Mitch decided he was going first!" I snap. Mitch shrugs and looks back at Ben. "What's it gonna be?" Mitch says completely ignoring me. Ben grabs his collar and takes a glance at the pit of darkness below.

"We'll do this your way." Ben says. They slowly move to where they know who's going first. "The rest of us, on my count of three, all move together. One step at a time. One, two, three." Ben says. We all nod and move together, well me limping with them. We move into a big pile as Mitch grabs the ladder. Riley pulls the four of us together.

"You ready?" Mitch asks. "Just get up there and save us!" I snap. Mitch rolls his eyes.

"Go." Ben says. We run together into the center but I lose my balance again and fall on my ass in front of Riley. Mitch tries his best to make it to the top to safety. He goes to grab a piece of the ladder and it breaks in half. We see him take the flashlight and walk away from us. This can't be good! Is he going to leave us here to die?


	8. Water Part One

**Chapter Eight: Water Part One**

**New Chapter, I might be able to finish to story before the New Year, who knows! Oh, I'm working on two new National Treasure stories. One: What if Ian Howe had a daughter? Two: My version of National Treasure 3…Hopefully the movie will be out by Christmas of 2011! **

"Mitch, what do you see?" Riley yells. "Is there a way out?" Abigail yells.

"What's up there, Mitch?" Riley yells again. "Mitch! Come on!" I scream.

"I've been doing the math here and..." Abigail says. "I know." Ben says.

"We're gonna have to leave one person behind." Abigail says looking at Riley. "Promise you'll come back for me. I can do the math too." Riley sighs.

"No, there must be way! I'm not leaving without Riley!" I say. Riley smiles and kisses my cheek. "I need you to be safe." Riley whispers in my ear. I shake my head.

"Abigail, you should go next. I want to go after you!" I say. "I'll go last. "No, we'll figure something else out." "We need you there. Please, Riley."" Riley says. Abigail laughs. I push Riley shoulder as the three of us start to move backwards to get Abigail up to the top. She looks back and smiles at us. The three of us nod.

"One…two…three!" Abigail says. The three of us run to the center. She climbs up the ladder to safety. "My turn, I guess." I whisper. Riley squeezes my shoulder. I slowly make my way to the ladder as Riley and Ben move backwards. I throw my flashlight up to the tunnel. I hear the flashlight hit the ground. I grab the ladder and close my eyes.

"One, two, three." I yell. The platform moves from under my feet, I quickly grab the other wooden piece. Behind me I hear the platform wood start breaking. "What are you doing?" I hear Riley say.

"Nothing." Ben snaps. I try to grab the last ladder piece but I can't. "I can't reach it!" I scream. I keep trying to grab it but one large hand grabs my hand. I look up and see its Mitch. Abigail shrugs from behind him. Mitch helps me up from the ladder to safety. I make my way towards Abigail.

"Just go! Go now! Go!" Ben yells to Riley. Riley runs and jumps to the ladder. "Ah!" Riley yells.

"Riley! Hang on!" I scream. "Okay. Mitch, the idol. OK, Ben. We found a gold idol here! We can roll it over to offset your weight!" Abigail yells over the cracking of old wood.

"Then roll it!" Ben shouts. Mitch and Abigail roll it towards the edge. "Here it comes!" I yell. Ben goes to the far end of the breaking platform and they roll it over the edge. It hits and breaks the platform more. Ben starts running. He jumps over the idol as the platform breaks. "Come on, Ben! Here! Give me your hand!" Riley yells. Ben jumps and grabs the bottom of the ladder.

"Ben!" Abigail yells. Ben grabs Riley's hand and pulls him up. "Thanks, Riley." Ben says, breathless.

"Why couldn't a girl see me do that?" Riley mumbles. I cross my arms. "What was that, Ri?" I ask. Riley looks at me with his mouth open. I raise an eyebrow. Mitch helps Riley up.

"You all right?" He asks. Abigail helps Ben up from the ladder. "You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." Abigail whispers. She looks at Ben, probably waiting for a kiss or something, like before with the Templar treasure. "So...forward." Mitch says. I look at them then back at Mitch.

"Are there a lot of rocks?" I whisper. Mitch looks down the tunnel and nods. I grab onto Riley's jacket. "I'll help you." He whispers. I smile at him. We start to walk through the tunnel. I trip over a rock and fall into Riley's back.

"You okay, Maia?" Riley asks. I lean my head into his backpack and sigh. "Yeah, just keep going!" I snap. Riley squeezes my hand. We come out of the rock tunnel.

"I can't see anything! Is this it?" Riley yells over the rushing water. Ben walks over to a thing that reminds me of Templar treasure. "It's oil!" Ben says touching the oil. Ben takes out a flare out of his backpack and lights it. He presses it into the oil. The oil on both sides of us bursts into flames. The five of us walk down the three steps down to where the water meets the stones. "It's a dead end! There's no way out!" Abigail yells. I limp my way over to Ben and look down into the water.

"There's no forward!" Abigail yells.

"It's not forward, it's down! All this water has to go out somewhere. Otherwise, it'd be filled up!" Ben yells. I look around the room. "The wheel, Ben! The wheel!" I yell. Ben looks at the wheel and makes his way over to it.

"Help me turn this wheel!" Ben says. We each grab a handle on the wheel and pull up then press it around. Man, this thing is heavy. I see Abigail look around the room; I do the same and see that the water is going down. We stop pressing the wheel. "The water's going down." Mitch says.

We walk down another tunnel. Wow, Mount Rushmore has a lot of tunnels. I roll my eyes and Riley gives me a look. "Oh, nothing. Just a lot of tunnels aren't good for my ankle." I say. We walk into the room and see it. The City of Gold, it's real! Everyone faces light up. "We found it! We found it, Ben!" I smile at him. Ben pats my shoulder. I look around the City of Gold and see Emily and Patrick.

"Ben, look! It's your parents!" I say. I point over to his parents. "Ben! Hey!" Emily yells and waves to us.

"Dad! We found it!" Ben yells. He punches his hands in the air. I laugh at Ben. "Thomas was right!" Patrick yells.

"No, you were right!" Ben says. Patrick and Emily walks down the stairs to come to us. "Sorry I smeared your great-great granddaddy's good name. Seemed like the only way to get you in on the hunt. But this was a chance for the Wilkinson family to make its mark on history, to find the City of Gold, to be remembered." Mitch says to Ben. I don't believe him but we smile at him anyway. Mitch is a bad guy and always be a bad guy, no matter what! I listen to the sounds around me when I hear cracking on something. I look around the room, where is it coming from? Riley grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. I look at him with a confused face.

"What's the matter?" He asks. "Did you hear that?" I ask, looking around the room.

"Hear what? I don't hear anything, Maia." Riley says. He leans down to kiss me but I push him away. I need to talk to Ben about that sound, that sound doesn't sound good.

"Maia!" Riley yells. I turn to him. "What?" I ask.

"Something's the matter that you're not telling me! What's wrong?" Riley asks. I look at Mitch and see he's looking at something. He flashes his flashlight on the area. I limp over to him. I see water starting coming out. "Okay, that's not good." I mumble. Mitch flashes his flashlight in my eyes and walks away. I glare at him as I look around for Ben. I need to tell him about this!


	9. Water Part Two

**Chapter Nine: Water Part Two**

**The next chapter is the last chapter of this story! Kinda sad that it is over but I can't wait to start the next stories! **

**Oh, enjoy! **

What happened to you? Your father was worried sick about you." Emily hugs Ben. "She was frantic. She was frantic." Patrick says. Emily hugs Abigail then walks over to me.

"What happened to you?" She asks. I look down at my ankle. "Uh, I kinda sprained my ankle. I think I'll be fine." I say.

"Dad, coming through, did you happen to see...? Stop it. Coming through, did you see any branches that could lead out?" Ben asks. "No, it's all blocked. You can't even get back to the big, round stone door. Where's your mother going?" Patrick says. Emily leads me to the top of the temple.

"Sweetheart. Sweetheart. Have a look at this." Emily says. "What?" Patrick asks.

"Look. This is gonna unlock the Olmec language. It's gonna give us incredible insight into pre-Columbian history." She smiles. "Em? You happy?" Patrick asks.

"Oh, yeah." She smiles. "Ben! Look at this! Look!"

"Oh, yeah. That's where they slit the throat, cut the heart out." Ben says. I giggle and look around to Riley. I see him trying to take a large brick of gold. I roll my eyes when all of a sudden I hear a cracking sound but much louder. "What was that?" Riley asks standing up.

"Listen." I say. Water exposes out of the rocks from the wall. Riley gets drenched. "Riley, get over here!" I scream. Mitch comes out of no where.

"I tried to find a way out. All those portals are blocked off!" Mitch shouts. "I'm telling you, all this water goes out somewhere. We'll find it." Ben yells.

"Ben, there's a current!" Patrick yells. "Follow it! There's got to be a central drain!" Ben yells.

"It's under us. Right here!" Patrick says. We make our way down towards the central drainage system. Riley grabs my hand and we make our way into another tunnel. Joy.

"Come on!" Ben yells as rocks fall into the water. "Let's go! Get in there!" Riley says. He pushes me into Ben as he walks by. Ben grabs my arm and pulls me close.

"Is your ankle okay?" He whispers. "What do you think? These tunnels are killer." I mumble.

"The water's rising too fast! Let's get that door open so we don't all drown!" Ben yells. Ben and Mitch press the lever to open the door. "Ben, it slopes down! It's a drainage tunnel. It fills with water when you open the door!" Patrick yells.

"We need to find something to stick under it to keep it open!" Abigail says. "No, if it's open, this tunnel will stay flooded. We've got to get to the other side and close the door." I shout.

"Patrick, Emily, go!" Riley yells. They start to go to the door. Mitch stops pressing the lever. Ben loses his grip and ducks. "Duck, Ben!" I scream. Ben ducks as the door slams shout. Everyone screams no when the door started to close.

"Mitch, we got to be on the other side of that door!" Riley shouts.

"Nobody leaves unless I say so. That door is not gonna stay open by itself. We both know what has to happen here." Mitch says. "One of us keeps the door open and stays behind." Ben says.

"I vote Mitch." Riley says. "This isn't a democracy." Mitch says. Mitch punches Ben in the head. Riley goes to punch him but Mitch beats him to the punch. Mitch grabs me and puts a knife to my neck.

"Stop! I'll stay! I'm staying. Look. Look! See? I'm right here! I'm staying!" Ben yells. Ben goes over to the lever. "Alright, I'll tell everybody how this is going to go. You and me are going to open that door. Anybody tries to leave before me, I drop the door, we start this all over again! Try any funny business, I guarantee you people are going to get hurt!" Mitch snaps. I gulp, I can't die like this.

"I won't! You have my word. Just let her go." Ben says. Mitch presses me out of his way and Riley catches me before I go under the water.

"Ben, no, we're not leaving without you." Emily says.

"Abigail." Ben says. Abigail goes over to Ben. "You make my parents leave. You make my parents leave." Abigail nods. Ben motions me over to him. I make my way over to him.

"Ben, please. Think this through! I need you on the other side of that door." I whisper. The tears start rolling down my cheeks. "You know our parents can get out of here without me! I need you to go with them! Riley needs you too." Ben whispers. I look at him.

"I can't! I can't! I can't! Ben this is too dangerous!" I cry. Ben looks at Riley then back at me. Riley comes over and grabs me. "No!" I scream.

"Let's go! Let's go, please! Patrick, Emily, he's trying to save our lives. Please, come on." Abigail says. Mitch and Ben press the lever. "Push, Ben!" Mitch yells.

"The current's too strong!" Riley yells as the five us get pressed into the tunnel. Abigail grabs onto Riley and I hang onto Emily and Patrick.

"I'm ready!" Ben says. "It's all yours!" Mitch says. A wood branch falls in front of him. Riley and Abigail get under the door and on the other side. Something breaks and hits the lever. Ben goes flying into the water. I lose my grip on Emily as Patrick and I go under the door and onto the other side like Riley and Abigail. I go over to Riley.

"We got to get Ben out of there!" Riley yells. I nod. "I'll help!" I say.

"No, M! I can't have you hurting yourself anymore!" Riley yells. "No, I need to help him!" I snap.

"Why?" Riley asks. "Because he's my brother!" I scream. The room goes quiet.

"Patrick and Emily were my foster parents. Ben and I considered ourselves siblings until I went to another family at 14, that's when we met. Ben and I have been best friend forever and anything happens to him, happens to me!" I say. I look at Emily and Patrick, they smile at me. This is the first time I've even told anyone this.

"Fine, but I'm going first!" Riley says. I nod. Riley and I go under the water. I stick my head out and see Mitch by the lever, hanging in there.

"If I'm stuck in the door, it stays open, both rooms fill up, and we all drown! Open the door! I'll get you out!" Ben says. "The current's too strong! I open the door, you'll be washed down!" Mitch groans.

"I'll get you out!" Ben yells. "I found the City of Gold! I found it! And no one will ever know?" Mitch says.

"We can figure this out! We can all get out!" Ben yells. "It's not a puzzle! No more puzzles, Ben! We're all going to die, or it could just be me! Tell them I found it!" Mitch says.

"Don't quit! Mitch!" Ben says. "Ben, come on! We need to get out of here!" I shout. Ben looks at me in shock. I go under the water and help Riley pull Ben out of the room. The door closes and I grab onto Riley. I watch as Abigail rest her head on Ben's shoulder. I see a shining light. The six of us stand up and start to walk down towards the lights.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Riley." Riley says. "My boyfriend." I smile at him.

"Oh, hi." Emily laughs.


	10. Next Treasure and Love

**Chapter Ten: Next Treasure and Love**

**The final chapter of this story…sad but off to start my newest National Treasure Story! Look out for that! **

**Hopefully coming out in 2011 sometime! **

We come out of the long tunnel into the sunlight. Ben and I walk on Mount Rushmore. He pulls out his cell phone and calls Sedusky and puts it on speaker. "Sedusky."

"I have my proof."

"Ben. I'm guessing Maia's there too. We were just talking about you. Ready to turn yourself in?"

"Not quite. We found the City of Gold."

"Doesn't matter. You still committed a federal crime."

"Um, I have an idea, Sedusky but first do you have a First Aide down there?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm going to need a little help."

We walk through some doors as I'm on crutches with Riley next to me. We are about to meet the President and talk about what we should do. Riley starts hitting my shoulder with his hand. "Ri, please stop!" I hiss. He continues to hit me. "Stop!" Riley smiles at me.

"Mr. President?" The President's guard says. "Craig, give us a minute." He says.

"Sir, for your information, this is the man who kidnapped you." Craig says. "As I recall, we were exploring a hidden tunnel, and a door closed accidentally, and this man saved my life." The President says.

"Yes, sir."

"Gates." The President says. "Sir." Ben says.

"For the record, after centuries of exploration, on this day, you have brought honor to your country and your family. You've done this country a great service. I thank you." The President says. "Thank you." Abigail says. Riley just smiles. I laugh.

"Thank you, Mr. President." I say.

"Craig. I thought you might want to take a look at tomorrow's headlines." The President says. "Tomorrow?" Riley questions. I make my way over to Ben and read the headline. "Thomas Gates Proved a Civil War Hero." I read out loud. I look at Ben with a smile. This is what he wanted.

"Thank you, sir." Ben says.

"All of you, along with Emily and Patrick Gates will get credit for this discovery." The President says. Ben looks at me then at Abigail and Riley. They nod. "And Mitch Wilkinson, sir." Ben says.

"Is that right?" The President says. "It's true, sir." I say.

"Um, before we get into anything else. Can you put Maia Castle-Gates?" I ask. The President nods. I smile at Ben then back at Riley.

"Ben, I am curious about that favor I asked you. Any report regarding what's on page 47?" The President asks. "I believe I can help with that, sir." Ben says. I go back over to Riley and Abigail.

"So it's good?" He asks. "Life-altering, sir." Ben says. Ben and the President start to walk away.

I nudge Riley to say something. I tilt my head with a smile. "What's on page 47? Are you talking about the Book?" Riley asks. The President looks over his shoulder at us. "What book?" He asks.

I make my way to the President. "One more thing." I say. I lean into the President's ear. "Can you get my boyfriend's car out of the IRS and tax free?" I whisper. The President smiles and nods.

That night at Mount Rushmore. Riley and I walk through the crowds of people when someone stops us. "Excuse me. Hey, you're that guy...The treasure hunter guy, right?" The girl says. "No, actually, the guy you're thinking of is somewhere over there." Riley says not even looking at the girl.

"No. You're him. Riley Poole. I recognize you from your book. Will you sign it?" The girl says. Riley turns and drops the bag and smiles. "Okay." He says.

"And, I'm the girlfriend of said treasure hunter." I smirk. The girl gulps, takes the book, and walks away. "Bye-bye." Riley turns to me.

"Hey, you broke me snow globe. Your paying me a new one!" I say. Riley takes me over to where Ben and Abigail are.

"Thank you." Abigail says taking a drink. "So, um, the tea tables..."

"Yes, I'm going to have the movers bring them to you next week." Ben says. "I was going to say you can keep them. And maybe you could...come and move back in with me." Abigail smiles.

"No. You used the word "so."" Ben says. "So?" Abigail laughs. Riley helps me onto the wall where Abigail is sitting. I cross my legs and take the drink from Riley.

"So, when you say "so," it means you're angry." Ben says. "Sometimes. And then sometimes it doesn't. It's sort of like a puzzle. And you're so good at puzzles. I'm sure you'll figure it out. So..." Abigail says. Ben leans in and kisses Abigail as the fireworks go off.

"Aww, this is cute." I smirk. Abigail and Ben break apart and laugh. They look at Riley with a different smile. I look at them, confused.

"What's with that smile?" I ask with a giggle. I turn to Riley and see him holding a small box. I gasp quietly. "No way." I whisper.

"Well, I'm not sure how this is supposed to go but, Maia Castle…" He starts. Ben nudges his side. "I mean Maia Castle-Gates, will you marry me?" Riley asks. I smile at me.

"Of course, Riley Poole. I will marry you!" I smile. I jump off the wall and around my arms around his neck. I kiss him and he kisses back. I stop the kiss and Riley puts the ring on my finger. Abigail hugs me and Ben pats Riley shoulder.

About three weeks later, Riley and I are walking towards Patrick's apartment. Riley reading a book as we walk past his red Ferrari. I stop as he continues to walk. "Ri? Did you miss something?" I ask. Riley turns back to me and his eyes widen. He runs back and smiles at the car. He picks up the envelope with his name on it. He pulls out the keys and the letter.

"The White House, Washington, From the Desk of the President." I smile at him. "President?" He whispers.

He flips the letter over. "TAX FREE" it reads. He goes on the other side of the car and hopes in. "You getting in?" He asks. "Not just yet." I say. He puts the key in and starts the car. "I love this car." Riley says.

Riley puts it in drive but I look down and see he has it in reverse. "Ri?" I say as he goes to drive off. Riley backs up into the car behind him. "Well, there goes the money we just got from find Cibola." I mumble. I walk over to my fiancé.

"You okay, Ri?" I ask. Riley looks up at me and shakes his head. "I wish I talked to the President about you breaking the car so many times." I say.

"Oh shut up, M. I'll fix it." Riley says. I cross my arms and pull out my phone. "Ben, Maia. Um, Riley broke his car…again." Ben laughs on the other line.

"Ben's laughing, isn't he?" Riley asks. "Yep!" I smirk. Riley rolls his eyes.


End file.
